A Second Chance
by AlreadyPerfectPotts
Summary: One-shot. Takes place after "Broken." Pepper and Tony have been on the slow road to recovery after the miscarriage, and after a while their lives return to normal. But Pepper still feels like there is something missing in her life. Pepperony.


**A/N: It's about time I uploaded something new, don't you think? andiray15 requested a sequel to Broken, so here it is. I hope you like it! Let me know in the reviews. Disclaimer - I do not own Iron Man or any of its characters; all rights go to Marvel.**

* * *

For one month, Pepper cried. Every time Tony looked at her, he could see tears brimming in her eyes. She was constantly depressed, hardly speaking to Tony anymore and even starting to skip meals, and at that point they both decided it would be a good idea for her to seek some therapy to help her get through this. Their doctor had suggested it earlier, but they hadn't acted upon it until a few weeks later. Tony accompanied her because he himself was having a difficult time as well, though he had been trying his hardest not to show it. He couldn't sleep at all for days after the miscarriage happened, and one night found himself on the verge of a mental breakdown on the floor behind the grand piano, fighting the urge to revert back to old habits and drown his sorrows with alcohol. He wasn't sure how they were going to cope with what happened, or if they would ever really get over it. But soon he found that, by the end of the month, Pepper no longer had tears streaming down her face every day, and he no longer caught himself staring down a bottle of vodka with trembling hands.

During the next month, she finally smiled. Tony remembered it clearly: she had been dabbing a wet cloth onto a cut on Tony's forehead that he had received during a short mission. Fury had called him in for a last-minute trip to South Africa to settle a dispute that could have potentially escalated into a full-blown war. Tony had been gone for two days, which was not a lot of time, but it made him feel sick to his stomach to leave Pepper alone for more than just a few hours. He returned at about three in the morning, exhausted and wanting nothing more than to just collapse on his bed and fall asleep. Pepper had been sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him with a book in her hand, but she had obviously been too nervous about him to actually read it because he noticed she was holding it upside down. When he walked through the door Pepper ran up to him and gave him a tight hug and asked if he was okay, as she always did when he came home from a mission. Before Tony could even reply, she noticed a bleeding cut above his right eyebrow and immediately went to get a wet towel and disinfectants to tend to the injury. "It doesn't hurt does it?" Pepper had inquired. Tony replied that no, all his pains seemed to go away whenever he was with her. Then he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as she bent over him to carefully clean his cut, and he saw her lips curve ever so slightly into a smile, which in turn made him grin. When she was done, Tony gave her a kiss on the cheek before they went upstairs to go to bed.

In the third month, Pepper laughed again. Tony had almost forgotten how beautiful her laugh was, and he was slightly taken aback by the chiming sound that brought him such joy. It was the day of her 34th birthday, when Tony had surprised her by inviting all of her friends over for dinner and cake and presents. It was the first time he had actually seen her look happy in a long while.

Now, towards the middle of the sixth month, they had seemingly returned to their normal selves, though they were both still a bit cautious with their conversations. They fell back into their daily routines and there was no more tension between them; they were more relaxed and natural with each other again. Tony knew that everything was pretty much back to normal when he did something stupid (accidentally setting the workshop on fire during a Mark L test run) and Pepper fussed at him over it, just like old times. He'd tried to cover it up and then blame it all on Dum-E, but of course Pepper could tell he was lying, which only resulted in him getting into even more trouble. And he didn't care one bit.

* * *

"Pep, I'm bored."

Pepper rolled her eyes at her husband, who had been wandering around the house all day looking for something to do. "Don't you usually play with your Iron Man suits when you're bored?"

Tony folded his arms. "The suits aren't _toys_ that I _play with_. They're complex, intelligent, dangerous machines used for combat. The ones I've been working on are all going through upgrades so I can't do anything with them right now."

"_Machines used for combat_? Last time I checked, flying around the house for half an hour and smashing a hole in the ceiling doesn't qualify as 'combat,'" Pepper said, using her fingers to make quotation marks in the air.

Tony frowned. "That was just one time."

Pepper laughed and shook her head. "Well, why don't we play a game or something?"

Tony thought about it for a second, and then suggested, "How about Mario Kart?"

"Sure," Pepper agreed. "I say we should make a bet."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Pepper nodded. "If I win, you have to turn JARVIS off for two weeks straight."

Tony made a face. "That's harsh. And when _I_ win, we get to skip the benefit this week."

"Deal," Pepper said, holding her hand out for Tony to shake. Tony took it with a smirk.

"Just so you know, that wasn't a very smart idea on your part because you're definitely going to lose," he said.

"We'll see about that," Pepper answered confidently, giving him a competitive look before she released his hand.

"JARVIS, turn on the Wii for me."

"You might as well start getting used to doing things manually, Tony," Pepper remarked. Tony chose to ignore her comment and handed her a Wii remote, and they both sat down on the couch in front of the enormous plasma-screen TV.

By the last race the points were tied up, and Tony was getting increasingly nervous at the thought of having to go without JARVIS for the next two weeks.

"Did you just throw a blue shell at me?!" he suddenly yelled as a bomb exploded on his Mario character.

Pepper laughed mockingly. "I'm so going to beat you."

Tony huffed, actually getting frustrated over the stupid game. "When did you get so good at Mario Kart?"

Pepper shrugged, her eyes still glued to the screen. She leaned forward intently and tilted her remote to round a corner in the game.

"Hey, Tony?"

"What?" Tony said, his tone a little more snappy than he intended.

"I've been thinking… I want to try again to have a baby."

Tony's head jerked up and he turned towards her at the unexpected statement, causing his Mario character to skid off the track and fall into an endless pit.

"What?" This time his tone was just plain surprised.

Pepper's character crossed the finish line, and then she glanced at him a little sheepishly. "I know it hasn't been that long since the miscarriage…"

Tony's brow furrowed. That was the first time they had actually spoken about the miscarriage without the assistance and encouragement of a therapist since it'd happened. "Pepper, are you sure you –"

"I've actually been thinking about it a lot," she said, resting her arms against her knees and absentmindedly twisting her wedding ring around on her finger. "Thinking about what we're missing out on. I want to be a mother, Tony. I want to sing lullabies to our baby. I want to watch her grow up, see what traits of ours she takes on. I want to be there when she graduates kindergarten, and middle school, and high school, and college. I want to teach her about the world, and stay up late watching movies and baking brownies together, and tell her every day that I love her. I want to be there with her during the times of laughter as well as the inevitable times of tears. I just really want… all of it. I want to be a parent. For _us _to be parents, and raise our child together."

Tony sat there for a moment, listening to everything Pepper was saying. "So I take it you want a girl, huh?"

Pepper pursed her lips. "_That's _what you got from all of that?"

Tony put his hands up defensively. "Just an observation. But in all seriousness…. Pepper, I know how you feel. I want all of those things, too – with the addition of teaching our kid how to operate the Iron Man suits, of course."

"Tony, no," Pepper retorted playfully, but with a '_don't-even-think-about-it_' kind of undertone.

Tony went on as if she hadn't interrupted him. "But, honey, are you really ready to try again? It seems like we've only just recovered from… you know…"

"I know," Pepper said softly. "But I feel like there's something missing in my life. Like the miscarriage left a hole in me that needs to be filled. And I do feel ready, Tony. I really do, I promise. I wouldn't be telling you this if I felt uncomfortable about it."

Tony wanted to question her more about it to make sure this was what she really wanted, but he trusted her. If she said she was ready to try again to have a baby, then he believed her. He himself was a little hesitant about it, though; he was haunted by the memories of that horrible day, and scared that the same thing might happen again. Yet at the same time, there was nothing in the world he wanted more than to start his own family with the woman of his dreams. This internal conflict must have also been displayed on his face, because Pepper then reached out and put a hand on his forearm.

"If you don't want to, just say so. Please don't let me pressure you into something you're not ready for."

At that moment, JARVIS's artificial voice sounded throughout the living room. "Mr. and Mrs. Stark, don't forget you have a benefit marked down for Friday evening at six o'clock."

Pepper said, "Not now, JARVIS" at the same time Tony said, "Way to rub it in, J."

"Well you did program me to send you a reminder at this time, sir," JARVIS pointed out. "I do apologize for interrupting your conversation. And for indirectly mentioning how you failed at Mario Kart and lost a bet with your wife."

Tony looked up at the ceiling, as if the AI could actually be seen up there. "Feeling sassy today, JARVIS? I don't believe I programmed you to be rude to your creator."

Pepper glanced at him. "Tony…?"

Tony took a deep breath, holding it in his lungs before a few seconds before releasing it and answering his wife. "I want a family more than anything. I want everything that you do. But what if –"

"Don't think about the _what-ifs_," Pepper said soothingly. "Everything will be okay. Remember the doctor said there's an extremely slim chance that we'll have another miscarriage."

Tony nodded, picking at a loose thread in his jeans to give himself an excuse to keep his gaze averted.

"Tony, look at me." Pepper softly guided his face up with her hand to force his eyes meet hers. "Do you really want to have a baby?"

He nodded again, thinking about that ecstatic moment when he found out Pepper was pregnant all those months ago. "Of course."

"Then we can try again. I promise you, there's nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine."

* * *

Tony was upstairs in front of the mirror in the master bedroom, yanking at his tie in irritation as he tried to make it even out. "This stupid tie won't cooperate, it's raining outside, we're already going to be late to this dumb benefit, and we won't be getting home until one in the morning. Is there anything else that could make this night worse?"

Pepper emerged from the bathroom in her floor-length blue dress and leaned against the door of their closet to pull on a pair of high heels. "I could think of a few things."

Tony wasn't the only one who wasn't looking forward to this benefit; Pepper had had a long day at work, and the last thing she wanted right now was to socialize with pretentious businessmen and put on a fake smile all night. She would much rather soak in a warm bubble bath and read a book and then curl up with Tony in her pajamas and watch a movie until she fell asleep on his shoulder. That sounded much more appealing. But she knew it was important for both of them to make an appearance, at least for a little while.

Tony gave up on his tie at the same time JARVIS spoke up through the intercom. "Sir, you have a call from Happy Hogan."

"Put him through," Tony said, working at the buttons on the cuffs of his sleeves.

"Tony?"

"Hey, Happy. Are you on your way?"

"Actually, I was calling to tell you that something's come up and I can't make it over there in time. You can find another way to get to the benefit, right?"

Tony stifled a groan and answered, "Yeah, no problem. Thanks."

Happy hung up, and Tony turned towards Pepper with a pained expression on his face.

"It's okay, we can still make it. You remember how to drive right?" Pepper teased.

"Very funny. Yes, I know how to drive. But –"

"Also, sir, I regret to inform you that there is an enormous traffic jam on the interstate. Cars are backed up for over three miles."

Pepper huffed. "Seriously?"

"Okay, that's it. Pepper, I'm begging you, can we just forget the benefit tonight? I'll make it up to you somehow, just let's _please_ not go."

Pepper pressed her lips together and then sighed. "I agree," she said. "There's no way we were going to make it."

Tony looked both surprised and immensely relieved. "Why don't we just take it easy and go out for dinner or something, since we're already dressed up?" He moved away from the dresser towards the bed to pick up the pair of socks that he had fallen off it. He started to put the socks on but stopped when he noticed Pepper walking towards him.

"Or, maybe," she said, slowly stepping nearer to him, "since our evening is freed up, we could just stay in… spend all night together by ourselves…"

Pepper could see excitement dancing in his eyes when her words registered in his brain.

"I like that idea," he said huskily.

"Me too," she said with a smile. She put her hands on his upper arms. "But don't get used to this. We're not missing another benefit for the rest of the year."

"Aw, come on, Pep," Tony whined.

Pepper rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh, please."

Tony reached a hand out and placed it at the small of her back to draw her closer. The silky fabric of her dress was soft to the touch. "Mm, you smell really nice. What scent is that?"

"Who cares?" Pepper responded, and she closed the gap between them. Tony kissed her back slowly yet deeply, tasting the cherry lip gloss on her mouth and the minty flavor on her tongue. A small moan escaped Pepper's throat, and she put a hand at the back of his head.

Tony pulled away when Pepper started fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. She looked up at him, and Tony brushed a strand of hair away from her face and rested his hand on her cheek. "Pepper, are you sure you're ready?"

Pepper looked at him sincerely, her blue eyes gazing softly into his brown ones. "Yes," she confirmed, "I'm sure."

Tony nodded, conveying to her that he trusted her and that he wanted this too.

With that, Pepper wrapped her slender fingers around his tie, hooked her ankle behind his leg, and pulled him down onto the bed on top of her. Tony lowered himself gently so as to not crush her under his weight, and he let his lips roam her face. Every soft kiss he gave her was given with affection, each one signifying how much he cared about her and how much he loved her. She was the love of his life, the one person with whom he felt truly happy, and he wanted to show her that.

Eventually his mouth found hers again, and suddenly their kisses became more forceful and fueled by desire. Pepper succeeded in removing Tony's shirt, which was tossed to the floor along with her shoes, and she ran her hands over his muscular body.

"By the way, you still have to disconnect JARVIS," Pepper said breathlessly once they finally broke for air.

"Now wait a second, you cheated," Tony muttered against her neck, his hands sliding under her dress as she tugged at his hair. "You can't just make a statement like that to distract me at the end of the game."

Pepper smirked. "No one ever said anything about playing fair."

* * *

It was Wednesday afternoon, and Pepper was sitting in the floor of the bathroom downstairs. The same feelings that she had experienced once before were surging through her again. Slowly she stood up, using the counter as support. She was still staring at the little stick with a small, red marking on it as she opened the door.

"Tony!" she called as she walked slowly into the living room. She felt lightheaded with happiness, and overwhelmed by the thought of the new future that this little plus-sign promised. There could have been a meteor crashing into Earth right outside their house and she wouldn't have noticed; all she could think about was the baby that was growing inside her. She put a hand over her stomach and smiled. This was their second chance at having a family. Their dreams were going to come true. And she was confident that time, nothing would go wrong. "Tony, I have something to tell you."


End file.
